Bautista Wins In Assen As Rea & Razgatlıoğlu Collide

Grid Talk Reporter 16:14 24/04/2022

Jonathan Rea collided with Toprak Razgatlıoğlu to hand Ducati rider Álvaro Bautista victory and the championship lead in the second World Superbike race at Assen.

Rea and Razgatlıoğlu crashed out on lap four after the reigning champion ran wide at the first turn and collected the Northern Irishman as he returned to the racing line. Bautista now leads Rea by 18 points. Rea won his 100th race for Kawasaki in Sunday's earlier Superpole sprint race. After starting from pole for the second 21-lap feature race, Rea dropped to fifth at the start as Razgatlıoğlu (Pata Yamaha) claimed an early lead ahead of Spanish rider Bautista. Rea survived a touch from GRT Yamaha's Garrett Gerloff and pulled off a superb pass on HRC rider Iker Lecuona into the final chicane before powering past Pata Yamaha's Andrea Locatelli later on the second lap. As has often been the case in 2022, Rea and his title rivals broke free at the front and the six-time champion moved into second past Bautista with another move at the final chicane.

However, the decisive moment in the race came when the leading duo collided. Rea aimed to dive past Razgatlıoğlu after the Turkish rider ran wide, but the pair came together as they both aimed for the same piece of tarmac. Bautista was forced to take avoiding action but soon battled his way to the front to take a comfortable victory and capitalise on the misfortune of his rivals. Locatelli was a distant second for Yamaha ahead of Lecuona, who completed the podium for Honda. Rea's Kawasaki team-mate Alex Lowes was fourth, in front of BMW's Scott Redding and the Motocorsa Ducati of Axel Bassani. Michael Ruben Rinaldi followed on the factory Ducati, ahead of the returning Michael van der Mark (BMW) and Xavi Vierge on the other HRC bike.

Lucas Mahias (Puccetti Kawasaki) was 11th, follwed by Roberto Tamburini (Motoxracing Yamaha) and Christophe Ponsson (Gil Yamaha). Leon Haslam, fresh from his BSB return last weekend was 13th on his Kawasaki, with Luca Bernardi (Barni Spark Ducati) and Leandro Mercado (MIE Honda) rounding out those scoring points on Sunday afternoon. Rea had earlier in the weekend won the first race over Bautista and Razgatlıoğlu.

Race Two (21 Laps)

Superpole Race (9 Laps)

Race 1 (21 Laps)

Superpole